Agenda item

(1)          The Chairman welcomed Teresa Vickers to the meeting.

 

(2)          Teresa gave an overview of her role and responsibility for Fostering in Kent.  She explained that she had worked   in Children’s Social Care for 37 years covering Residential, Hospital Social Work, Children and Families, Adoption and Fostering.  She advised that following the restructure in 2012, the remit of her role included responsibility   for the recruitment, assessment, training and panel processes for prospective foster carers, as well as the commissioning and delivery of learning and development programmes for all approved foster carers.

 

(3)          She went onto advise that her role also included responsibility for the Specialist Fostering teams of Disability, Fostering and Therapeutic Reparenting (TRP).  The TRP Scheme is a fostering service for young children with severe attachment difficulties.

 

(4)          Theresa explained that Kent has 900 registered foster carers, caring for over 1,100 children and there have been 140 foster carers approved in the current financial year.

Q - Please can you clarify the numbers as yesterday we were quoted 1881?

 

(5)          Teresa responded that 1100 children were cared for by KCC registered foster carers others were cared for by Independent Fostering Agencies, some were residential and some placed at home.

Q - Clarification was requested regarding the placing of children?

 

(6)          Teresa explained that this took place in the North of the County by the Foster Team together with the Service Manager.

Q - Clarification was requested on the geography of North Kent?

 

(7)          Teresa advised that this covered Dartford, Gravesend, Swanley and Sevenoaks.

Q - Please explain about training, support and respite? Could this be improved?

 

(8)          Teresa explained that an initial training course entitled “Skills to Foster” took place which explored what fostering is, what to expect, areas around attachments, behaviours and learning about KCC and the processes.  This training last for 3 days and included a half-day session where potential foster carers are interviewed by young people in care.  All feedback and issues raised are then forwarded on towards their assessment.

 

(9)          Teresa went onto explain that once the foster carers are appointed, a Core Training Programme takes place which includes subjects such as 1^st Aid, attachment, and what it is like to be a foster carer.  During the first year there is also general training, core skills, very specific/specialised training, face to face and also E learning.

 

(10)       There is in addition a 20 week course entitled “Keep Safe” which is very hands on and has proved to be extraordinarily successful.  This is aimed at foster carers looking to foster older children. 

Q - Please can you advise of the dropout rate from the initial 3 day training course and also of the timescales from the initial contact to placing?

 

(11)       Teresa responded by explaining that after initial interest, statutory checks and references have to be carried out/requested before any training commences. In addition to all the training programmes a very thorough   Home Study is carried out with the family to look at how they operate as a family, their interests, how they would work with KCC and all the views of each family member.  An assessment is then made prior to the case being presented to Panel. The Panel then make a recommendation to the Decision Maker and then finally the child is placed.

Q - Despite there being a rigorous process a great number of children seem to change placements constantly please can you explain why?

 

(12)       Teresa responded that it was extremely important to state that it is not an exact science.  She explained that relationships breakdown for all sorts of reasons. She hoped that stories of children leaving foster care with one day’s notice were OLD stories and that children DO NOT leave any placements with plastic bags! She went on to say that the key factors in any placement were good assessment skills together with good matching skills – the right carer with the right skills – matching was imperative. She explained that despite this, with trying to make something fit sometimes there are problems.  These could be around location, for instance the child could have moved away from school and friends, or even their own family.  This was the fault of the system ie not having enough foster carers. She went on to advise that it was a known fact that if a first placement breaks down 70% of children are likely to enter   that negative cycle. This especially related to emergency placements.  Another significant   factor which influenced placements were the children in the family, sometimes there are clashes between the birth children and the fostered child  but Teresa also explained that in very many cases it was the birth children that made the placement by being completely encompassing.   She stressed how important it was to always put in the training – the Fostering Service   role was to support carers before times did get tough. There had been a vast improvement since working with the area support teams and on many occasions gaps were filled and it worked beautifully.

Q - How selective are you? Please explain the plus factors and the negative factors?

 

(13)       Teresa explained that resilient people were needed, people who do not give up at the first hurdle.   There could be many different combinations,   people who do not have children living at home any longer or families without children currently, or single people. It was important to establish how the prospective foster carers have been parented, how they will manage if they have children of their own in the future , they should never be underestimated  and it is expected that they will be dealing with many kinds of challenging behaviours and it is the role of the fostering service to support them. Teresa referred to her own mantra “hold the carer so that they can hold the child”.

 

(14)       With regard to negative factors, Teresa explained that everyone is looked at on an individual basis  however,  some areas of criminality in terms of child abuse etc would of course  automatically preclude an applicant.  She went on to explain that sometimes even on an initial assessment someone’s humour may not be right and it would then be a case of establishing whether this was due to nerves or whether they were acting inappropriately and therefore not suitable.

Q - A previous witness seemed to indicate that many of the young people had mental health problems.  Are they assessed before being placed?

 

(15)       Teresa advised that the Social Worker would work with the child, explain what is happening, and give them every opportunity to talk.  The foster carer would also be trained to do some of that work too.

Q - You explained that young people carry out interviews with the foster carers, how do you select these?

 

(16)       Teresa advised that they were members of the Kent Care Council and Apprentices were also used and who also sit on Foster Panels too.

Q - How long is the training period for foster carers?

 

(17)       Theresa responded that from the point of returning the application to going to Panel is approximately 8 months. However, she did explain that effectively the first stage was taken out of their control as it depended on how long the statutory checks took.  From assessment to Panel then usually took three to four months.

Q - You talk about foster families, please can you define family?

 

(18)       Teresa explained that there were many family combinations including  single foster parents and that once you had a child with you, you became a family.

Q - How much do they get paid?

 

(19)       Teresa explained that maintenance to take care of additional costs were paid at £90.00 to £140.00 per week depending on the age of the child.

Q - I have heard that some people regard fostering as their income?

 

(20)       Teresa was adamant that the income could not possibly be the sole reason for fostering. She advised that with most jobs you come home at the end of the day and switch off, with fostering you can’t. Foster carers also received up to £200.00 per week reward.

Q - As part of the Select Committee we have heard from 3 young people who gave evidence, all had been party to lots of placements and I got the impression they were survivor’.  One had been in 31 placements, can you hazard a reason for there being 31 placements?

 

(21)       Teresa said she would struggle to answer the question but it could be that the young person had been in and out of care or it could be that the young person had been so challenging that they were difficult to manage.

Q - Looking at the graph we have been given today I can see that 5 children had 14 placements, 4 children had 43, 3 had 113, 2 had 474 and 1 child had 1242 placements, why are there these multiple placements?

 

(22)       Teresa responded that the reasons could be   many, for instance not a good match, carers unable to manage, and once there has been a breakdown statistics show there are likely to be many more placements.  Children also worked out that if they “kick up”    they will be moved on and many hope that they  will be moved back to their families.

Q - Do you make assessments at the end of placements?

 

(23)       Teresa explained that a review of Foster Carers takes place every year.  At the end of a placement all involved are asked for feedback.

Q - Including the child?

 

(24)       Yes.

Q - You paint a very positive picture - are there any areas that need improvement?

(25)       Teresa responded by saying that obviously she wanted to change the culture for those children who were constantly moving placement.  She said the bigger the area the greater the choice and that  it was so important for the right set of skills to be implemented and  for the right placement at the right time to be put in place. She emphasised that the Service was not there to find children, there were bigger issues and it was imperative to consider these, placement choice, right carers and right location.

Q - Is there any incentive to increase the age range?

 

(26)       Teresa explained that to encourage carers to foster older children (16+) they needed to be advised that the Service was not asking them to give up work – children of this age were used to being at home on their own for some periods. She felt that the service should be “growing their own”  carers of older children  and explained that there were many advertising mechanisms currently being used, radio broadcasts, adverts on buses, updates on the website and also a “Foster Chat” on line.  Teresa also advised that she believed the key was supporting carers so that they had a trust and a belief in the service and problems were resolved almost before they arose.  She also explained that the Service targeted youth groups, hospitals, schools and special schools. Although she did remind the Committee that just because you were a teacher or social worker etc it did not automatically make you a good carer. Carers do live with a lot of uncertainty and do therefore put themselves on the line.

Q - Some young people are criminalised due to an incident occurring in a foster home and the incident being reported to the Police in order to gain a crime number for insurance purposes.  Is Kent any closer to signing up for an Insurance Policy specifically targeted to foster carer’s?

 

(27)       Teresa replied by advising that she had not had direct contact with the areas for about two years but explained that carers did not want to criminalise children.  She advised that the biggest area was usually cars.  A protocol had recently been established and this was about to be sent out to the Areas the main point being – for carers to talk to the Social Workers first before they do anything else. She advised that Insurance generally was a difficult area, there had previously been a “fund” for Area teams to access in some cases.

Q - Some Local Authorities have signed up to an insurance specific to Foster Carers is Kent going to do this?

 

(28)       Teresa said that this had been investigated but the Authority was not currently willing to sign up to it.

Q - A child in foster care had recently done well in mock GCSE’s and had rang her local member to let her know, when she had asked if they had told their carer she was advised that she was currently  in respite  as the carers were on holiday. The young people who had meet with the  Committee last week were asked if they had ever been on holiday with their foster families and one replied no and the other only two times. I am concerned that some foster carers see respite as a top priority which makes me feel uncomfortable.  Are we attracting the right people?

 

(29)       Teresa explained that she did agree and saw this problem as a real challenge. Carers were paid for 2 weeks holiday a year but many carers do wait until after a placement has been completed but she went on to say that some carers do need the break. Respite should be seen as the exception not the rule. Potential carers are always told the young people are not object’s!

Q - Do you take ethnic backgrounds into consideration when matching?

 

(30)       Teresa explained that the service does always try to match but doesn’t always manage to.  They do however, always try to plug the gaps and put something in place to ensure that identity is not lost.

Q - Are there currently campaigns for recruiting Foster Carers to address the imbalance?

 

(31)       Teresa responded that quite often it will take prospective cares a minimum of two   years from thinking about fostering to actually doing anything about it. It is therefore important for them to see advertising.  This year twenty two carers had come to Kent from the Independent Fostering Company’s.  In terms of redressing the balance the campaign was currently concentrating on North and West Kent.

Q - There is obviously competition from the London Borough’s – does this counteract it?

 

(32)       Teresa advised that there was a struggle with the London Borough’s border. They placed a lot of children in East Kent which is why it is so important carers see the Kent adverts and don’t for example go to Bexley Borough.  Kent is currently trying to get across the message “local carers for local children”.  Information evenings take place all around Kent and it is therefore so important to market the service.

Q - Are there any areas that you think the Committee should specifically look at or raise or highlight?

 

(33)       Teresa responded by saying that the focus should always be on the child – local carers for local children.  A recent study found that carers needed to feel valued and listened to.  She thought it would greatly improve the situation if Local Members could possibly host Coffee Mornings in their local areas for the carers. Area teams could help with the arrangements and invite the Carers to come along.

Q - Do the London Boroughs pay a higher rate?

 

(34)       Teresa said that she didn’t think they paid more than Kent but knew that the Independent Agencies did.

Q - Why would a foster carer take a London Borough child rather than a Kent child?

 

(35)     Teresa explained that she had recently spoken to a carer who had simply seen the Bexley advert and didn’t know the difference this is why Kent needed to be “out there”.

 

Q - The council tax invoice goes to every Kent address and contains various graphs and information about Kent services, why can’t information be put in with that?

(36)       Teresa was very enthusiastic about this idea.

Q - You mentioned that area events take place, I have never been informed of these?

 

(37)       Teresa explained that the area events were designed for people thinking about fostering and whilst members would be welcome she felt that the Coffee Mornings idea could be an important way to help the process and emphasise the awareness of the corporate parenting role.  If Members could be involved in the recruitment, networking, ensuring fostering was on the agenda overall and meeting foster carers she felt this could have a major impact.

Q - How could this be enabled, there is an information gap?

 

(38)       Teresa explained that this was not deliberate and that there were Children in Care Service Managers in all the areas who could provide all the information members may want.

Q - There are Community Liaison Managers who are advocates for Members and I would like to ask that you keep in close communication with them, through these people Members could be a real asset. 

 

(39)       Teresa assured the Committee that she would ensure this happened.

 

(40)       The Chairman thanked Teresa and stated that she had found the session enlightening and very informative and extremely valuable and thanked her for covering so many important issues.